Today: Nick Drake passed away in 1974, 39 years ago

A singular talent who passed almost unnoticed during his brief lifetime, Nick Drake produced several albums of chilling, somber beauty. With hindsight, these have come to be recognized as peak achievements of both the British folk-rock scene and the entire rock singer/songwriter genre.
~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)

A singular talent who passed almost unnoticed during his brief lifetime, Nick Drake produced several albums of chilling, somber beauty. With hindsight, these have come to be recognized as peak achievements of both the British folk-rock scene and the entire rock singer/songwriter genre.
~Richie Unterberger (allmusic.com)

Northern Sky:

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you’re here
Brighten my northern sky.

From Wikipedia:

Birth name

Nicholas Rodney Drake

Born

19 June 1948
Rangoon, Burma

Died

25 November 1974 (aged 26)
Tanworth-in-Arden,Warwickshire, England

Genres

Folk, folk rock

Occupations

Singer-songwriter, guitarist

Instruments

Vocals, guitar, piano, clarinet, saxophone

Years active

1967–1974

Labels

Island

Website

brytermusic.com

Nicholas Rodney “Nick” Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician, known for his gentle guitar-based songs. He failed to find a wide audience during his lifetime but his work has gradually achieved wider notice and recognition.Drake signed to Island Records when he was 20 years old and a student at the University of Cambridge, and released his debut album, Five Leaves Left, in 1969. By 1972, he had recorded two more albums—Bryter Layter and Pink Moon. Neither sold more than 5,000 copies on initial release.Drake’s reluctance to perform live, or be interviewed, contributed to his lack of commercial success.

Way to Blue:

Drake suffered from depression, particularly during the latter part of his life. This was often reflected in his lyrics. On completion of his third album, 1972’s Pink Moon, he withdrew from both live performance and recording, retreating to his parents’ home in rural Warwickshire. There is no known footage of the adult Drake; he was only ever captured in still photographs and in home footage from his childhood.On 25 November 1974, Drake died from an overdose of amitriptyline, a prescribed antidepressant; he was 26 years old. Whether his death was an accident or suicide has never been resolved.

At The Chime Of A City Clock:

Drake’s music remained available through the mid-1970s, but the 1979 release of the retrospective album Fruit Tree caused his back catalogue to be reassessed. By the mid-1980s Drake was being credited as an influence by such artists as Robert Smith, David Sylvian and Peter Buck. In 1985, The Dream Academy reached the UK and US charts with “Life in a Northern Town”, a song written for and dedicated to Drake.By the early 1990s, he had come to represent a certain type of “doomed romantic” musician in the UK music press and was frequently cited as an influence by artists including Kate Bush, Paul Weller and The Black Crowes.His first biography appeared in 1997, and was followed in 1998 by the documentary film A Stranger Among Us.

Great documentary: A Skin Too Few – The Days of Nick Drake [2000]:

Album of the day:

Bryter Layter (1970)

Other November 25

The Last Waltz was recorded in 1976 (separate posts).
–The Last Waltz was a concert by the rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The Last Waltz was advertised as The Band’s “farewell concert appearance”,and the concert saw The Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris,Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood, Bobby Charles, Neil Young andThe Staple Singers. The musical director for the concert was The Band’s original record producer, John Simon.
–

Percy Sledge (born November 25, 1941, Leighton, Alabama) is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit “When a Man Loves a Woman” in 1966.
–

Don DeVito (September 6, 1939 – November 25, 2011) was an American record producer, music business executive and guitarist. His career was spent at Columbia Records, where his production credits included Bob Dylan’s albums Desire, Hard Rain, Street-Legal, and Bob Dylan At Budokan.